Signal Mountain's Woman of the Year charged with DUI

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Signal Mountain's recently honored Woman of the Year was arrested Saturday night and charged with driving under the influence, evading arrest and two counts of child endangerment, Red Bank police said.

Carrie Jones, 41, was selected to be the 2013 Signal Mountain Community Guild's Woman of the Year on April 24 for her volunteer work.

Just 10 days after the award, Red Bank Police Department officers found Jones driving south on Dayton Boulevard, slumped over and appearing to be asleep at the wheel with her two young daughters in the car, an incident report states.

The officers turned on their emergency lights and sirens, which woke up the driver, who sped down Dayton Boulevard in a silver Honda Odyssey before turning right onto Morrison Springs Road.

Police finally made contact with Jones when she came to a stop at 314 Morrison Springs Road, the incident report states.

As Jones exited the vehicle, with glazed eyes and slurred speech, officers noted the smell of alcohol on her, police said.

Jones told police that she'd had three glasses of wine. A quick search of the vehicle revealed a metal water bottle and orange cup near the driver's seat, both full of red wine, police said.

Jones' failure to complete several field sobriety tests convinced officers she wasn't fit to operate a vehicle.

Officer Nathan Bruce said in the arrest report that, "based on her performance of these tests, I feel that she wasn't able to drive."

Jones was taken to the Red Bank Police Department, where she refused a blood alcohol test. She was charged with driving under the influence, evading arrest and two counts of child endangerment.

"Ms. Jones's actions of evading from police placed the children in grave danger," the report states.

She also was issued citations for refusing an alcohol test, violating the open container law and traffic violations.

Jones could not be reached for comment Monday night. The children and vehicle were released to a grandmother, according to the report.